Raising awareness is 1st step to helping bees

A recent article in your paper by Marion Ceraso from the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism criticized the Wisconsin State Pollinator Plan for not doing enough to help Wisconsin’s bees.

For the last year, my research group in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Entomology has been working with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to develop a State Pollinator Protection Plan.

The story grossly mischaracterized the process of how the plan was created, suggesting that it was somehow undermined by agrichemical interests.

The agrichemical industry stakeholders cited in the article represented just two of 30 groups invited to the public stakeholder meetings, but one is led to believe pesticide companies were at the table helping write the plan, while others, including conservation and farming groups, where either cut out of the process or sidelined.

In reality, there was a transparent and inclusive process that was broadly representative of the diverse interests in the state. Readers can review the list for themselves via DATCP’s Pollinator Protection webpage: http://datcp.wi.gov/Farms/Bees_and_Honey.

The story also implies that pesticides are the sole threat to bees. A singular focus on pesticides, however, misses the greater point of how to best help our insect friends. There are numerous reasons why bees are generally in decline. In some areas, insecticides may be the cause, but in others, they are simply starving from lack of food. Exposure to pathogens and parasites compounds these other issues. A more comprehensive approach that includes better management of both our rural and urban landscapes will be more likely to succeed in improving pollinators than a strategy that focuses on a one-dimensional solution.

Additionally, the article unfairly compares the Wisconsin plan to “stronger measures” taken in Oregon or Minnesota where actions were directed by state legislatures. Regulation of pesticides occurs primarily at the federal level by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA is currently reviewing the use of neonicotinoids and their effect on bees and has put a moratorium on new insecticides in this class. It is uncommon for states to add pesticide restrictions beyond those at the federal level, and statutory regulations must be written by the Legislature, rather than agencies or their work groups.

The goal of the State Pollinator Protection Plan was to bring about a greater awareness of our pollinators and how we can help them, and we have already started to make a difference. I am personally heartened that those who have read the Wisconsin Pollinator Protection Plan think that we should start to do more to help our honey bees and native pollinators. But only by starting this conversation and taking these initial steps can we begin to affect changes on the ground for those we are really trying to help — our valuable pollinators.

Claudio Gratton​ is a professor of Entomology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has never been supported by agrichemical companies.